Traditional classrooms with forward facing rows and a central focus might not be the best for students anymore, according to one study partly conducted at Ball state.
When students are in a classroom atmosphere where they can easily form groups and have access to technology, they are more likely to care about what they are learning, according to a new study by Steelcase Education Solutions. Classrooms designed for lectures and memorization are not as helpful today as they were in the past.
“We’ve observed that inflexible layouts and furniture with limited mobility hamper interaction among students, instructors and content; in fact the environment can be a barrier as much as a facilitator,” the study says. “The majority of classrooms in use today were built for traditional, ‘stand-and-deliver, sit-and listen’ [teaching] in a passive learning setting.”
Professor of educational psychology Jerrell Cassady said there could be a correlation between the classroom engagement and student engagement, but the level of student engagement also depends on the professor.
“Logically, someone who is more willing to modify their [classroom] arrangement is often more innovative an instructor,” Cassady said. “But the other idea is that you can have more sensibility of how you engage with one another, if you have more flexibility working in a classroom.”
He said traditional rows don’t allow for cooperative learning, but when students are allowed to move their seats and break into groups it allows for “creative engagement.”
The study showed that when a university redesigned a lecture hall for their chemistry program by introducing round tables, a projector and tablets, coupled with new chairs that allowed students to more easily form groups, there was a 5 percent change in retention and grades rose between 3 to 4 percent. Since there wasn’t a front stage where the instructor would stand in a typical lecture hall, the instructor was free to move around and immerse themself in the learning.
Cassady said while there are some innovative classrooms at Ball State, there are also some that are more traditional. In the Teachers College, they are testing different innovative classroom arrangements.
“Most of the classrooms in the Teachers College, in general, have movable chairs. That makes it easier as opposed to like a large lecture format,” Cassady said. “But the fact that you also have wireless technology in every classroom in every building increases the chance that students can be engaged with learning, that you can have iclickers in a classroom that can engage the students with the content.”
Sophomore pre-interior design major Haylee Moscato said since she works in interior design studios, the layout of the classroom definitely affects her work.
“Studios are more hands-on and they allow me to get up and talk to other students,” Moscato said. “I’m a visualist, being able to walk around and see what others are doing helps me.”
Sophomore music composition major Ben Mossler said he hasn’t seen classrooms that foster his learning at Ball State. He said most of the rooms he works in are designed for study, and he has not had a class in a group study room.
Even though the study points toward a more interactive classroom leading to a jump in grades, Cassady said ultimately it’s the instructor that makes the class engaging, not the classroom.
“If you have a very engaging instructor in a very boring classroom, what matters is if they have flexibility within that classroom,” he said.
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